Season 17, Episode 1 RFK

First Aired: October 4, 2004

Documentarian David Grubin, who has profiled FDR and LBJ (among others) for “The American Experience,” takes the measure of “RFK.” A shy, if driven man, Robert Kennedy “wasn't built for the spotlight, he was built for the wings,” says journalist Jack Newfield, and while John Kennedy was alive (covered in the first hour), that's where Bobby stayed---making certain that JFK remained in the spotlight. After Nov. 22, 1963, however, “we saw him grow,” says civil-rights veteran John Lewis. Kennedy's famously tense relationship with LBJ was ruptured beyond repair by Vietnam, and he made the plight of the dispossessed his moral and political passion. Says Newfield: “He saw somebody hurting and he hurt.”

Guest Cast

Premise: This much-honored PBS documentary series explores American history, one topic or person at a time. Its Peabody Award winners include profiles of FDR and Malcolm X, and such diverse topics as Nixon's 1972 trip to China, the controversy surrounding `Citizen…
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